The use of personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), Web-enabled phones, smart phones, tablet devices, wire line and wireless networks, the Internet, Web-based query systems and engines, and the like has gained relatively widespread acceptance in recent years. This is due, in large part, to the relatively widespread availability of high-speed, broadband Internet access through digital subscriber lines (DSLs) (including asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSLs) and very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber lines (VDSLs)), cable modems, satellite modems, wireless local area networks (WLANs), 3G/4G wireless systems, and the like. Thus far, user interaction with PCs, PDAs, smart phones, tablet devices, Web-enabled phones, wireline and wireless networks, the Internet, Web-based query systems and engines, and the like has been primarily non-voice-based, through keyboards, mice, intelligent electronic pads, monitors, touch screens, printers, and the like. This has limited the adoption and use of these devices and systems somewhat, and it has long been felt that allowing for accurate, precise, and reliable voice-based user interaction, mimicking normal human interaction, would be advantageous. For example, allowing for accurate, precise, and reliable voice-based user interaction would certainly draw more users to e-commerce, e-support, e-learning, etc., and reduce learning curves.
In this context, “mimicking normal human interaction” means that a user would be able to speak a question into a Web-enabled device or the like and the Web-enabled device or the like would respond quickly with an appropriate answer or response, through text, graphics, or synthesized speech, the Web-enabled device or the like not simply converting the user's question into text and performing a routine search, but truly understanding and modeling the user's question.
Several products and services currently allow for limited voice-based user interaction with PCs. PDAs, and the like. Such software products include, for example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking™ by Scansoft, Inc. and SIRI™ by Apple. These products, however, which allow a user to perform dictation, voice-based command-and-control functions are often inaccurate, imprecise, and unreliable.
Existing systems, apparatuses, software products, and methods for providing natural language query services suffer from at least one of the following shortcomings. They often require time-consuming, and often inaccurate, imprecise, unreliable, and require voice training.